Things to do in London this weekend

Wide Awake bills itself as a ‘musical melting pot’, and you can expect the usual mixture of leftfield indie, post-punk, electronica and techno at the 2025 edition, which sees ascendent Irish hip hop trio Kneecap headline, with Irish singer-songwriter Cmat, Mercury Prize-winning indie outfit English Teacher, and Canadian electroclash legend Peaches also on the bill. Further down the line-up, you’ll find DJ and producer Daniel Avery, experimental dance music maven Cobrah, NYC indie duo Fcukers, Philadelphia punk band Mannequin Pussy and many, many more. 

A fascinating feminist hybrid of EastEnders, Samuel Beckett and Wolf Hall, Ava Pickett’s 1536 is set in some marshland on the outskirts of an Essex village in the year Anne Boleyn was executed. The story begins as a funny drama focusing on three young Tudor women – Jane (Liv Hill), Anna (Sienna Kelly) and Mariella (Tanya Reynolds) – effing and blinding away. But news arrives that Henry VIII has arrested Boleyn and accused her of treasonous adultery. The men of Essex start taking cues from their king, with word reaching the village of adulterous local wives executed by their vengeful husbands. The engine of the play is Pickett’s superb dialogue and the sweary, lairy modern-language chats had by the women. It’s a droll and perceptive period piece that’s also a searing and unsettling contemporary feminist drama. 

From screeching tube carriages to the lulling podcast we listen to on our commute, noise is constantly shaping our lives, and the Barbican’s Feel the Sound exhibition promises to be a multi-sensory journey into our personal relationship with sound. Eleven commissions and installations will take over the arts centre, all exposing visitors to frequencies, sound, rhythmic patterns and vibrations that define everything around us. Even the Centre’s underground car parks will be part of the action as it’s transformed into a club space. Sing with a digital quantum choir, experience music without sound and look out for experiences celebrating underground club culture. 

Since opening in late 2024, myriad rants have been inspired by The Yellow Bittern. Largely, about the pretentious-leaning lore around it: you can only book this lunchtime-only bistro by phone, it’s expensive but cash-only, and proudly displays two portraits of Lenin. The room is somewhere between a French village luncheonette and an interwar Lyons teashop with Belfastian chef Hugh Corcoran thwacking loudly away in the teensy corner kitchen. An enjoyably sizable hunk of rabbit is served in a gleaming, amber sauce and a mountain of creamy mash, there’s an exemplary take on rustic roast chicken and an ample rum baba is appropriately boozy. This is simple comfort food done well and bountifully.

It’s been 14 years since the last Final Destination movie, so if you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a quick catch-up: in each movie (five so far), a young person sees a vision of themselves dying. They manage to dodge their fate, but Death is petty and doesn’t like his plans ruined, so he finds new ways to bump off everyone who should have died, and this might be the most fun one yet. It begins with the best death sequence of any of the movies that bounces you between wincing, shrieking and laughing, impressively balanced by directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, and then settles into an extremely enjoyable, vastly over-the-top mood. This movie does exactly what a horror reboot should, taking the best bits of the original and heading in a smart, inventive new direction. It’s daft as hell and a heck of a good time. 

In UK and Ireland cinemas Wed May 14. In US theaters Fri May 16.

After that FA cup victory, the vibes will be riding high at Crystal Palace Beer Festival, which takes place one day before the club’s final game of the 2024/25 season at their Selhurst Park ground. Celebrate by sampling the hundreds of beers and ciders on offer – from local breweries and beyond. There’ll also be plenty of entertainment, food and other refreshments to ramp up that festival feeling. 

Is it just us or does Field Day feel way younger than 17 years old? Time flies, eh? The electronic-heavy festival returns to Brockwell Park in 2025 after a stint in east London, with a line-up that leans more heavily towards DJs and producers than the spread of live acts and selectors we’ve seen at the festival in recent years. Major acts on the 2025 bill include Peggy Gou, Jungle, Bubble Love (a new project from Ross From Friends), James Blake (DJ) b2b Mala, VTSS, Special Request b2b Yung Singh, Jayda G, Fatima Yamaha, Skream and Benga, and Mall Grab alongside plenty more globe-trotting selectors, for a full day of non-stop dancing. 

Mischief Theatre – they of The Play That Goes Wrong – are now aiming their slick brand of ever-escalating theatrical farce at the spy genre in this West End premiere. When a top-secret file is stolen by a turncoat British agent, a deeply mismatched pair of KGB agents and a CIA operative and his over-enthusiastic mother collide in pursuit of it. General chaos ensues. Writers Henry Shields and Henry Lewis mine plenty of daft comedy from spy staples like bugged radios and improbable gadgets while paying homage to a decade in the UK rocked by the revelations of double agent Soviet Union spy rings. A talented cast know their mission, steering into every eccentricity in the play’s helium-filled parade of stereotypes. For bungling wit matched with peerless physical comedy, you’d be hard pressed to find better in the West End.

All of London’s hippest and hottest people will be making the pilgrimage to Peckham for the tenth edition of electronic music bonanza GALA. The festival is celebrating reaching double digits with a stellar three-day line-up curated in partnership with NTS radio, plus some of the city’s most acclaimed music and nightlife brands. Expect headline sets from Floating Points, Moodymann and Theo Parrish on Friday, Avalon Emerson, Ben UFO and KiNK on Saturday and Caribou, Floorplan and Hunee & Antal on Sunday. 

Got a passion for pre-loved fashion? You’ll love this free festival popping up at both London branches of Westfield this month. The shopping centre has teamed up with Depop, swap shop Loanhood, door-to-door clothing repair business Sojo and skincare brand Kiehl’s to stage a series of free workshops, masterclasses and eco-conscious experiences designed to inspire visitors to embrace sustainable shopping habits. Learn how to turn unwanted clobber into cold hard cash, as well as scrunchie making and denim repair. You can also shop for new threads at the pop-up Depop Marketplace. 

Get adult tickets for £19 (down from £25) and student tickets for £10 only with Time Out Offers.

Munich-born, London-based producer Mechatok has worked with all the hyperpop girlies (Charli xcx, Oklou, Bladee), crafting a distinctive euphoric minimal sound that’s synonymous with the scene. His most recent single, ‘Virus Fresstyle’, recorded at Virus Studios, is a lot more playful. A gradually fizzing dance anthem, it’s the kind of thing you could imagine prancing around a warm summer field to, can in one hand and cig in the other. Make the most of a little escapism when catching it live this month. 

Colour Factory, E9 5EN. Fri May 23, 10pm. From £22.56.

The National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing is finally open again after being closed for refurbishment for two years. And what a relief that is, because the Sainsbury Wing housed some of London’s greatest art treasures. It was there that you could find gleaming, golden, Byzantine altarpieces and early Renaissance masterpieces. The refurbished wing will allow visitors to gaze adoringly at Piero della Francesca’s ‘Baptism of Christ’, their earliest painting, in a specially designed chapel-like room. There’ll also be Paolo Uccello’s ‘The Battle of San Romano’ returning from its three-year restoration process, and a whole room dedicated to the theme of gold.

Stephen Sondheim didn’t finish his final musical Here We Are, something we can easily determine by the fact there aren’t any songs in the second half. He did however give his blessing for it to be performed, and so here we are. Sondheim’s last gasp is a relatively breezy mash-up of the plots of two seminal Luis Buñuel films, with music and lyrics by the great man and book by US author David Ives. Sondheim’s lyrics are delightfully flippant, spiky and modern, and enormous credit must go to Ives, who has created something deft, funny and perceptive, if relatively restrained. 

The Natural History Museum always has fun with its big, slick exhibitions: for 2025 it poses one of the big questions of our times – are we alone out there? Could Life Exist Beyond Earth? won’t be getting bogged down in what aliens might want from us, but it will be focussing on the geological side of space: the NHM’s collections contain some of the world’s most important space rocks, many of which will be on display here. Snap a selfie with a piece of Mars, touch a fragment of the Moon and lay your hands on the Allende meteorite, which is, remarkably, older than Earth itself. Listen to the sounds of Mars and smell the smells of outer space.

Organised by three Londoners to reflect a ‘year of discussion’, this exhibition is set to explore the shared approaches and creative dialogues between a wide selection of artists. Featuring works that recall specific shows at Raven Row itself, the art you’ll see tends to play on realism, making use of found objects and reused materials – you might see everyday household items or DIY tools incorporated, for example. Expect to see works by artists including Terry Atkinson, Rachal Bradley and Andrea Büttner.

Doing something genuinely original with Romeo and Juliet is no mean feat, but Sean Holmes’s latest Globe version transposes fair Verona to the rootin’ tootin’ American West, the cast donning stetsons and petticoats befitting a trad production of Oklahoma! as the sighs of our star-cross’d lovers are scored by a banjo and intercut with the odd ‘yee-haw!’ This Romeo and Juliet is remarkably unafraid to have fun. The Western theme is wrung tightly to eke out every last drop of comic potential. You have to admire the Globe’s commitment to doing something different. 

Treat yourself to a Mediterranean feast in the heart of Soho at Maresco, where Scottish seafood meets bold Spanish flavours. With this exclusive deal, you’ll get two courses, house sourdough and a glass of wine for under 20 quid – a serious steal in central London. Whether you're craving jamón ibérico, fresh octopus or rich paella, this buzzing spot brings sunshine to your plate without breaking the bank.

Get two courses with sourdough and wine, for £19.95 (originally £31), only with Time Out Offers.

In the Barbican’s new, light-filled gallery, the City of London skyline provides a fitting backdrop for the tall, wiry works of Alberto Giacometti beside the hybrid, fragmented figures of Pakistani-American sculptor Huma Bhabha. For ‘Encounters’, the Giacometti Foundation has lent some of the Swiss artist’s most elemental figures for an exhibition that will evolve in the coming months with responses from other artists, including Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum and American sculptor Lynda Benglis.The result? A lens through which the instability, impermanence, and human condition itself are explored.

The home, migration, global displacement: these are all themes Do Ho Suh explores in his work, consisting of videos, drawings, and large translucent fabric installations of interiors, objects, walls and architectural structures. Often brightly coloured, skeletal and encompassing, this survey exhibition at Tate Modern will showcase three decades the celebrated Korean-born, London-based artist, including brand-new, site-specific works on display. 

Imagine indulging in all the dumplings, rolls, and buns you can handle, crafted by a Chinatown favourite with over a decade of culinary excellence. Savour Taiwanese pork buns, savoury pork and prawn soup dumplings, and luxurious crab meat xiao long bao. To top it off, enjoy a chilled glass of prosecco to elevate your feast. Cheers to a truly delightful dining experience at Leong’s Legend!

Patrick Marber’s reputation as a playwright was sealed with 1997’s Closer, but wowee his debut Dealer’s Choice is good. ‘1995’ screams a giant projection at the start of Matthew Dunster’s production, but this isn’t a nostalgia fest. It’s a remarkably prescient play about men, under pressure, playing poker. I’s a lean and thrilling beast that centres on a group of blokes who work in the restaurant in which the after hours poker games are played. Nobody depicts blokes on stage quite like Dunster, who is pretty much the Guy Ritchie of theatre directors and he’s in his element with this grimy thriller, getting the best out of his cast for what is, ultimately, an enjoyable story of terrible male desperation.

Despite recently winning what seemed like every single award that had ever been invented, and turning round the faltering fortunes of the Royal Court Theatre, there was never a guarantee that Mark Rosenblatt’s debut play about Roald Dahl’s antisemitism – and the deep trenches of dispute about Israel – would work in the West End. But it does work, brilliantly with John Lithgow stooping and scowling his way into Dahl, who in 1983, has a bad back, his house is being noisily renovated, is recently engaged, and has aalso just written a very antisemitic review of a book about Israel’s bombing of Lebanon. Aided by Nicholas Hytner’s crystalline production, where humour is never many lines away, he demands arguments play out, stink and vitriol and all, I guess in the hope that we can stop arguing them on repeat for the next forty years.

Japan’s Edo period – from 1603 to 1868 – is thought to have been mostly a time of civic peace and development, allowing new art forms to flourish. In the later part of that era, Utagawa Hiroshige produced thousands of prints capturing the landscape, nature and daily life and became one of the country’s most celebrated artists. This new exhibition at the British Museum offers a rare chance to see his never-before-seen works up close (this is the first exhibition of his work in London for a quarter of a century), spanning Hiroshige’s 40-year career via prints, paintings, books and sketches.

Having begun life as a whimsical jape in a Sydney bar, The Empire Strips Back is indeed a Star Wars-themed bulesque show that takes up residence at Riverside Studios for a walloping three-and-a-half months. We’re not entirely clear if it’s simply pitching to the horny nerd market or if there’s a bit more to it than that. But if your main takeaway from the original trilogy was the Princess Leia bikini scene the you’re definitely in luck.

The great Irish playwright Conor McPherson returns from his long absence with a bang with The Brightening Air, his first original play since The Night Alive in 2013. It’s a slow, wistful affair, the dial firmly tuned to ‘Chekhov’. The setting is a semi-dilapidated County Sligo farmhouse, at some point in the ‘80s, following a sprawling cast of characters centring on a trio of siblings who inherit their family farm from their father. It’s deft stuff, a slow-burn, bittersweet drama about a family finally disintegrating under forces that have been pulling at it for decades. 

The Institute of Contemporary Arts hosts the first UK solo exhibition of Croatia-born, Amsterdam-based installation and performance artist Nora Torato this spring. Known for her text ‘pools’, created at yearly intervals using found language gathered from media, conversations, online content and overheard speech, the artist’s UK debut will feature site-specific new work that spans video, performance, graphic design, writing and sound. 

Ryan Calais Cameron’s fifties-set three-hander about a potentially commie actor has sharp suits, big pours of scotch and a haze of cigarette smoke. But to assume the play is a pastiche of a fast-patter period piece – is to underestimate Calais Cameron who smashed the West End with his beautiful play For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy. Because in walks Sidney Poitier, the guy who’d go on to become the first Black man to win an Oscar. He’s about to be cast in a big breakout role, but NBC’s lawyers want him to sign an oath that he’s not a communist. 

Leigh Bowery was a convention-shunning icon of 1980s London nightlife, taking on many different roles in the city’s scene, from artist, performer and model, to club promoter, fashion designer and musician. His artistry also took many shapes, from reimagining clothes and makeup to experimenting with painting and sculpture. A new Tate Modern exhibition will celebrate his life and work, displaying some of his looks and collaborations with the likes of Charles Atlas, Lucian Freud, Nicola Rainbird and more.

Time Out and W London are rolling out the red carpet for film lovers with the W London Film Club – a one-of-a-kind private screening experience in an intimate, 38-seater cinema. Nestled in London’s iconic West End, tickets start at £24 and include your screening, a handcrafted cocktail, and popcorn. For those looking to indulge further, upgrade to the £44 ticket, which adds a two-course meal and a glass of prosecco. Whether you're planning a date night, a stylish Sunday screening, or a special night out, get ready to sit back, sip on a cocktail, and escape into the magic of the big screen.